


Fighting Like a Feather

by Insignem



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Bonding, Fluff, Light Angst, Lots of rain, M/M, lots of running, or something more, they both need friends
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-12-24
Updated: 2012-12-24
Packaged: 2017-11-22 05:12:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,178
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/606179
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Insignem/pseuds/Insignem
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"They sit there, not really talking anymore, but Stiles doesn't feel the need to fill the silence with words. The knowledge that the loneliness is shared, he thinks, is enough. Enough to soften the sting of it - just like the rain, washing away its sharp edges until it barely hurts at all."</p>
<p>In which there's lots of rain, Stiles takes up running, and he and Derek find each other.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Fighting Like a Feather

**Author's Note:**

> I have no idea if it's meteorologically accurate for summers to be rainy in whatever part of California Beacon Hills is supposed to be. Sorry!
> 
> Title comes from A Silent Film's song "Thirteen Times the Strength" because I'm hopelessly in love with the lyric-titling trope.
> 
> Dipping my toes into Sterek/Teen Wolf/AO3 for the first time! Mistakes are all mine.

It rains a lot, that summer.

And despite the fact that the weather is far more suited to sitting indoors playing video games and traipsing around the Internet, Stiles takes up running. He starts out slow, letting his body - used to lacrosse sprints and shorter jogs for conditioning - adjust to the pounding of his feet on the pavement as he jogs around the neighborhood and surrounding streets. His feet tread familiar paths through the town as his radius expands, his runs gradually shifting from half-hour outings to full morning excursions. His summer starts to be defined by the squelch of his soggy shoes and the sodden weight of his clothes clinging to his skin as the rain paints him into the landscape, by the thump of his wet clothes on the bathroom floor after he peels them off his body.

He doesn't think about drowning.

~-~

Derek's summer is defined by waiting. He lives in that brief catch of breath before the exhale, tension etched into his outline, into every fleeting thought and possibility. The warehouse is quiet without his betas but too crowded with Peter's constant presence, and so he takes to whiling away time in the Hale house. The woods have always been home, but the house is just an empty shell - a burnt-out wreck that maybe mirrors his own life more than he'd like to admit.

So he sits in the house and listens to the rain, letting it distract him from his worries about Boyd and Erica and the impending threat of the Alphas and the fact that Isaac is pretty much Scott's now. The soft fall of droplets on ash where the roof has given way soothes Derek, draws him into a dream world where the rain tamps down the ghosts that live in the swirling clouds of ash and cleanses the house of its bitter memories.

But really, it just smells of wet ash and emptiness.

~-~

It doesn't escape Stiles that he could be running from something. He's not sure what drives him out there into the rain, but it's not loneliness, he tells himself. If he wanted to, he could be at the gym lifting all the time with Scott and Isaac – but he prefers burning lungs to burning muscles, anyway. That's what he says, but there's a part of him that knows all to well what it feels like to be a third wheel, and he's not eager to repeat the experience.

So he runs increasingly more as the summer goes on, though he's not sure why. His footsteps take him off the roads and into the woods, deeper and deeper through grounds that can't hold the same horror in even overcast daylight. The water droplets catch on the trees before they reach his body, mingling with his sweat as they track small rivers across his face. He's addicted to the sweetness of the rainwater mixed with his own salt, licking his lips to taste the moisture that soaks him.

It's tastes a hell of a lot better than being alone.

Whatever that means.

~-~

Derek hears Stiles running often, attune to the slightest disturbance of his quiet world in the woods. He can recognize who the boy is by the familiar pattern of harsh breaths and loud footfalls, never taking him close to the Hale house but audible nonetheless. Derek listens as the weeks go on, hearing the progression as Stiles grows fitter and his breathing becomes smoother, his steps more nimble and his heartbeat strong and steady. It occurs to him in the long hours that he sits there that while his last remaining beta has deserted him in favor of Scott's company, Scott has probably been neglecting Stiles also. He laughs, but it's tinged with something far from humor.

They're pieces of work, they are: two lonesome fuck-ups seeking refuge from the loneliness by being all alone.

~-~

That's not really fair though, Derek knows. He's just projecting, unconsciously seeking some sort of even distant connection with another person. He's the fuck-up, not Stiles. Stiles is just a teenager, who may tend to blunder around a bit, but it's not like Derek hasn't noticed that he has his moments. In fact, out there in the woods with nothing else to occupy his time, he starts to realize that Stiles is actually absurdly well-meaning and loyal to a fault and pretty damn smart, too.

It's these realizations that he has, as he sits thinking with the constant thrum of Stiles' footsteps in his head, that make him think that maybe he's had enough of being lonely.

Instead of timing his run to avoid Stiles, Derek decides to join him.

~-~

When Stiles hears footsteps nearing his one day, he's surprised. He never sees another soul in the woods, rarely even hears bird sounds in the rain – he avoids the vicinity of the Hale house without thinking, accustomed to the steady drop of rain and his own heavy breathing being the only accompaniment.

So he glances back, and nearly does a double-take as he sees Derek Hale jogging up to him in running shorts and sneakers. He's about to apologize, to protest, to beg Derek not to kill him (not that he actually thinks the guy would, but it's hard to tell with Derek) when the Alpha merely offers him a sharp nod and falls into step beside him.

Stiles pretends not to notice the way the rain has plastered Derek's white T-shirt to his unfairly perfect torso.

~-~

Apparently this running together thing is now an actual thing, because almost every day that Stiles finds himself in the woods, Derek joins him. There are never words exchanged; an added set of exhales and foot-treads is the only difference so long as Stiles does not glance over to see the man running at his side.

He's not quite sure how he feels about the new arrangement, but he's pretty sure he doesn't mind.

~-~  
Derek's not sure if jogging silently beside another person really qualifies as doing something about his loneliness, but to his surprise he finds that he _likes_ running with Stiles. They move through the woods together, never seeing another soul, and maybe he can't quite go as far as to call it a companionable silence - but it's something.

He can't help but notice that the teen's strides have grown longer in matching his, his footfalls landing a little more subtly on the forest floor. Stiles runs with an easy grace now, and Derek wonders if he knows how far he's come from the boy who used to blunder through the woods. He likes to think maybe he has something do with that.

It might be all in his head, but still, it works for him.

~-~

It's nearing the end of July when an actual storm hits. The ever-present rain turns lashing with the added wind and when a particularly nasty crash of thunder shakes the skies, Derek figures they should probably get inside.

“Come on,” he says. “The house isn't too far from here.”

Stiles looks startled for a second, and Derek wonders why until he realizes that those are the first words he's spoken to Stiles since they've started running together. Probably the first words he's said for most of the summer, if he's being honest.

He stands and stares at Stiles for a moment, fighting some sort of indefinable emotion that feels a little like sadness, until the teen's face is illuminated by a streak of lightning and they set off for the house at a much faster pace than usual.

~-~

Once they reach the house, Stiles watches as Derek peels off his wet shirt and sits himself down on the stairwell. He stands awkwardly in the doorway, wondering what to do. It's weird; he feels almost like they're friends now, except he can't remember if they've ever actually spoken to each other in a non-hostile, non-life-threatening context.

He opts for saying nothing, worried he'll start babbling in the face of Derek's intimidating abs, and pulls his leg back to stretch his muscles out after the run.

Derek is the first to break the silence, it turns out, with what sounds like some sort of choking noise.

~-~

Derek can hardly breathe for a second when Stiles starts stretching. Hearing the changes in the teen is one thing, but running side-by-side hasn't exactly given him the opportunity to see for himself what the long weeks of running have done to Stiles. His wet clothes are hugging him in all the right places, and Derek almost chokes when he bends over to stretch his hamstrings – his legs are long and lean and muscled in all the right places. It looks sinfully good, and Derek hastily clears his throat to cover up the noise that escapes him.

“So what made you pick up running, Stiles?” He asks, just to have something to say.

If he'd had any thoughts about this summer at all, no where among them was anything about becoming attracted to Stiles. _Shit_.

~-~

Stiles unfolds himself from the stretch and shrugs at Derek, amused by what is clearly an awkward attempt to make conversation. The guy is staring rather pointedly at the floor; apparently more absorbed by the scored-up floorboards than anything Stiles has to say.

“Just wanted something to do, I guess. And it's good for me, so, there's that.” Derek snorts in acknowledgment and Stiles is a little annoyed at himself for giving such a perfunctory response that pretty much ensured that the silence would continue.

He doesn't know if it's that, or the fact that he hasn't really _talked_ to anyone all summer, or the way he can't help but feel a little sad at the sight of Derek sitting slumped on the stairs surrounded by the ruined house, but in any case something makes him open his mouth and start talking about all things that he's been avoiding articulating even to himself.

~-~

Derek finds himself unable to avoid looking at Stiles when the teen abruptly launches into an animated rant that starts somewhere around lacrosse and migrates to Scott and ScottandIsaac and then there's something about drowning, _drowning_ and Derek doesn't know what to do so he jumps up and grabs Stiles' shoulders, feeling as the energy just drains out of him and his whole body sags. Derek stares in wonder at the boy in front of him, almost flinches when Stiles looks up to meet his eyes for the first time and he sees the sadness there.

His voice is quiet as he says, “This whole werewolf thing used to be so _cool_ until it left me so freaking _lonely_ ,” and Derek pulls him into a hug before he even thinks about what he's doing. He doesn't think he's hugged anyone since Laura... since Laura.

It's kind of nice.

~-~

Before Stiles even realizes what he's doing, he's somehow told Derek way more than he meant to, _oops_ , and _wow_ he's a bit more of an emotional wreck than he realized. But he's being hugged by the (shirtless!) Alpha werewolf and it only lasts a moment before Derek pulls back with something like understanding in his eyes.

“I, uh. Me too,” he says. “The loneliness, I mean. That's actually pretty much why I came out to run with you – I figured we might as well be lonely together.”

He looks uncomfortable, thoroughly embarrassed even, and Stiles stands there shocked for a moment before punching Derek in the arm, grinning. “Well fuck _that_ ,” he says. “We've got each other now.”

And Derek rolls his eyes and goes, “Great...” but he might be smiling a little as he says it, and Stiles just kind of stares at him helplessly for a moment, marveling at what his summer has turned into. He shakes his head and sits down comfortably on the staircase, Derek settling back down beside him.

They sit there, not really talking anymore, but Stiles doesn't feel the need to fill the silence with words. The knowledge that the loneliness is shared, he thinks, is enough. Enough to soften the sting of it - just like the rain, washing away its sharp edges until it barely hurts at all.

~-~

The storm is winding down and he'll drive Stiles home soon, but for now Derek is content to sit beside Stiles on the stairs and wait it out. He might actually be able to call the silence companionable, now, Derek notes, and grins inwardly. At any rate, it's no longer awkward. Rain thrums in his ears, melding with the solid, relaxed thump of Stiles' heart next to him. The rate is different from what he remembers, no longer the frenetic beat it was before this summer. It's slower now, strong and steady.

He finds it oddly soothing.

~-~

The summer goes on and the rain continues, and things don't really change much, but now they talk a little bit and Stiles will sometimes ask Derek if he wants to grab something to eat after their run. He almost always says yes, and each time it surprises Stiles a little less. Some days Scott and Isaac will come over for their wolfman training, and Stiles will work his way through the intense core circuits Derek showed him while the werewolves spar out in the yard. He likes that he feels stronger now – Derek has told him about the Alpha pack, confided some of his worries, and Stiles isn't stupid enough to think he could take them on, but it feels good to know that if he can keep up with Derek, he might at least be able to outrun them. (Derek tenses when he tells him this, and Stiles was mostly joking but there's a rough undercurrent to his voice as he says, “I won't let it come to that.”)

Scott texts him to come over one night for some bro-bonding with Isaac, and they're both clearly surprised that he brings Derek along, but they try not to show it. Derek, for his part, grumbles and rolls his eyes a lot when Stiles tells him about it, but Stiles just laughs and tells him it will be worth it for the look on their faces when they show up. He's so right.

If Derek seems a little uncomfortable at first, by the time ten minutes of the movie have passed he's relaxed into the couch beside Stiles and seems to almost be enjoying himself.

~-~

There's a little over a week until school starts and they're sitting in the Stilinski kitchen making pre-run smoothies. Stiles eyes the tub of protein powder Derek made him buy and nudges the werewolf, who's cutting up strawberries by the sink. “How much of this crap should I add?” he asks, frowning at the mess of milk and yogurt and bananas already in the blender.

Derek scoffs. “That 'crap,'” he says, pointing a berry-stained finger at Stiles, “is what's going to help you bulk up for lacrosse next spring.”

Stiles looks at him in amusement and and pulls up his shirt. “Don't need it, ha!” he says, indicating the newfound abdominal definition that he happens to be quite proud of. Derek just throws a mushy fruit at him, but Stiles sees the way his eyes linger a bit too long, sees the flush that tints his skin red like the strawberries in his hands.

He doesn't quite know what to do with that, and stammering a bit, he changes the subject. “So, I think I'm going to go out for cross country this fall.”

The pleased grin he gets in response is blinding. Stiles thinks that maybe the thing he's proudest of learning this summer is how to make Derek Hale smile like that.

~-~

Stiles goes back to school, and Derek's pleasantly surprised to find that the overwhelming feeling of aloneness doesn't come back. His days are quieter, sure, but Stiles will usually stop by after practice just to chat. Sometimes he teasingly tells Derek to get a job, but Derek knows he's right and starts thinking about it. Scott and Isaac continue to come around for training – it turns out that Isaac's influence has been good for the other teen; it's all so much easier now that Scott has stopped fighting Derek's knowledge and experience at every turn. He and Peter start plotting, tolerating each other as they wait for the Alpha pack to make a move. The betas and Stiles join in when they have the chance, and Derek isn't even surprised that Stiles turns out to have brilliant tactical ideas, because of course he read _The Art of War_ in middle school - “What?! It was interesting!”

Stiles calls Derek when he gets back from his first race, an away meet against the previous year's state champs. He finished third out of the whole field, and he's clearly ecstatic as he tells Derek about the race over the phone. “It's all thanks to you,” he says breathlessly. “You pushed me to keep up with you all summer and now I'm in reaching distance of the best runners in the state.”

Peter sees him after he hangs up and casts a pointedly judgmental look at the expression on his face, but Derek is too high on pride and happiness to even bother flipping him off.

~-~

Stiles' next meet is at home, and this time it's raining. He bounces excitedly as he warms up with his teammates, who are grumbling about the conditions. But Stiles knows that he's got this. This race, this weather, this is all his.

So he goes out, and he runs. He runs like he ran this summer, like loneliness was chasing him, like the Alpha pack and all of his werewolf-related fears were hot on his heels. He runs like Derek is at his side, pushing him with each step, pushing him to be faster, stronger. But he knows that Derek is waiting at the finish line, he knows that Scott came to watch and thinks that Issac may even have come to, because as it turns out he's a pretty cool guy.

He knows all this, but he lets it melt away, puts everything out of his mind until all that's left is his burning lungs and his aching legs and the sweet, sweet rain. The rain that washes away all of his pain and all of his fear as he pours on a last burst of strength and crosses the finish line, first, the nearest competitor well behind him. He thinks he hears something about a course record as he laughs and tilts his face up to the sky, gulping in air and letting the water stream over his face.

He finds Derek, set off from the rest of the crowd, dripping wet and beaming. He pulls him into a hug, still laughing, and then Derek kisses him and Stiles thinks he's never tasted anything sweeter than rainwater mixed with _Derek_. He feels a little bit like he's drowning in him, drowning in Derek, and if this is what drowning feels like – well, then, maybe it isn't so bad at all.


End file.
